









BX 9178 
V3J6 













^ .\ilf. <?• V .«••* ^ .4.9 .«L^f.. > 




















*•■•• ^ 






^ .^L'» "> 















A 






:* w 



v oV* 










3Jop ant) $ot»er 



3fop anb potter 

€>ne leaning 

IB* 

$entp tan Dpfte 




€. & Cttrt»eU anD Company 



Copyright, 1903, by Thomas Y. Crowell & Company 



Published September, 1903 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copies Receive* 

OCT 15 1903 

Copynght Entry 
CLASS CL* WW- N ° 

/ copy a. 



t« 




P 



b 



D. B. Updike, The Merrymount Press, Boston 



iDeOicateti to mp jfnenti 

3Iofm Huston Jfinlep 

Iprestoent of t&e College 

oftbe 

Citp of K3eto gorfe 




Ci)e preface 

HEthreemessageswhich 
are brought together in 
this book were given not 
far apart in time, though 
at some distance from one 
another in space. The one 
called Joy and Power was delivered in 
Los Angeles, California, at the opening 
of the Presbyterian General Assembly, 
May 21, 1903. The one called The Bat- 
tle of Life was delivered on Baccalau- 
reate Sunday at Princeton University, 
June 7. The one called The Good Old 
Way was delivered on Baccalaureate 
Sunday at Harvard University, June 
14. At the time, I was thinking chiefly 
of the different qualities and needs of 
the people to whom I had to speak. 
This will account for some things in 
the form of each message. But now 
that they g,re put together I can see 
that all three of them say about the 
same thing. They point in the same 
direction, urge the same course of ac- 
tion, and appeal to the same motive. 
It is nothing new, — the meaning of 
this threefold message,— but it is the 

vii 



preface 



best that I have learned in life. And I 
believe it is true,— so true that we need 
often to have it brought to remem- 
brance. 

Henry van Dyke 

Avalon, July 5, 1903 



Content* 

l 3lop ano Potoet 3 

it €be IBattie oniife 37 

at €be <SooD ©ID aBap 59 



3Jop anti #ot)oer 




gjop anD #otoet 

§>t 3Ioftn tin- 17 : 3Ifpe fenoto tbm tfrings, 
bappp ate ge if pe Do tbem. 

ASK you to think for a 
little while about the re- 
ligion of Christ in its re- 
lation to happiness. 

This is only one point in 
the circle of truth at the 
centre of which Jesus stands. But it is 
an important point because it marks 
one of the lines of power which radi- 
ate from Him. To look at it clearly 
and steadily is not to disregard other 
truths. The mariner takes the whole 
heavens of astronomy for granted while 
he shapes his course by a single star. 

In the wish for happiness all men are 
strangely alike. In their explanations 
of it and in their ways of seeking it 
they are singularly different. Shall we 
think of this wish as right, or wrong; 
as a true star, or a will-o'-the-wisp? If 
it is right to wish to be happy, what 
are the conditions on which the fulfil- 
ment of this wish depends? These are 
the two questions with which I would 
come to Christ, seeking instruction 
and guidance. 3 



3lo|? an* potter 

I. The desire of happiness, beyond all 
doubt, is a natural desire. It is the law 
of life itself that every being seeks 
and strives toward the perfection of its 
kind, the realization of its own specific 
ideal in form and function, and a true 
harmony with its environment. Every 
drop of sap in the tree flows toward 
foliage and fruit. Every drop of blood in 
the bird beats toward flight and song. 
In a conscious being this movement 
toward perfection must take a con- 
scious form. This conscious form is 
happiness,— the satisfaction of the vi- 
tal impulse,— the rhythm of the inward 
life,— the melody of a heart that has 
found its keynote. To say that all men 
long for this is simply to confess that 
all men are human, and that their 
thoughts and feelings are an essential 
part of their life. Virtue means a com- 
pleted manhood. The joyful welfare of 
the soul belongs to the fulness of that 
ideal. Holiness is wholeness. In striv- 
ing to realize the true aim of our be- 
ing, we find the wish for happiness im- 
planted in the very heart of our effort. 
4 



fop anli potter 

Now what does Christ say in regard 
to this natural human wish? Does He 
say that it is an illusion? Does He con- 
demn and deny it? Would He have ac- 
cepted Goethe's definition: "religion 
is renunciation"? 

Surely such a notion is far from the 
spirit of Jesus. There is nothing of the 
hardness of Stoicism, the coldness of 
Buddhism, in Christ's gospel. It is hu- 
mane, sympathetic, consoling. Unrest 
and weariness, the fever of passion and 
the chill of despair, soul-solitude and 
heart-trouble, are the very things that 
He comes to cure. He begins His great 
discourse with a series of beatitudes. 
"Blessed" is the word. "Happy" is 
the meaning. Nine times He rings the 
changes on that word, like a silver bell 
sounding from His fair temple on the 
mountain-side, calling all who long for 
happiness to come to Him and find 
rest for their souls. 

Christ never asks us to give up merely 
for the sake of giving up, but always 
in order to win something better. He 
comes not to destroy, but to fulfil,— 

5 



3fop an* potter 

to fill full, -to replenish life with true, 
inward, lasting riches. His gospel is a 
message of satisfaction, of attainment, 
of felicity. Its voice is not a sigh, but 
a song. Its final word is a benediction, 
a good-saying . "These things have I 
spoken unto you, that my joy might re- 
main in you, and that your joy might 
be full." 

If we accept His teaching we must 
believe that men are not wrong in wish- 
ing for happiness, but wrong in their 
way of seeking it. Earthly happiness, 
—pleasure that belongs to the senses 
and perishes with them, -earthly hap- 
piness is a dream and a delusion. But 
happiness on earth ,— spiritual joy and 
peace, blossoming here, fruiting here- 
after,— immortal happiness, is the key- 
note of life in Christ. 

And if we come to Him, He tells us 
four great secrets in regard to it. 

i. It is inward, and not outward ; and 
so it does not depend on what we have, 
but on what we are. 

ii. It cannot be found by direct seek- 
ing, but by setting our faces toward 
6 



Sop anfcftotter 

the things from which it flows ; and so 
we must climb the mount if we would 
see the vision, we must tune the instru- 
ment if we would hear the music. 

iii. It is not solitary, but social ; and 
so we can never have it without shar- 
ing it with others. 

iv. It is the result of God's will for us, 
and not of our will for ourselves ; and 
so we can only find it by giving our 
lives up, in submission and obedience, 
to the control of God. 

For this is peace,— to lose the lonely note 
Of self in love's celestial ordered strain : 
And this is joy,— to find one's self again 
In Him whose harmonies forever float 
Through all the spheres of song, below, 

above,— 
For God is music, even as God is love. 

This is the divine doctrine of happi- 
ness as Christ taught it by His life 
and with His lips. If we want to put it 
into a single phrase, I know not where 
we shall find a more perfect utterance 
than in the words which have been 
taught us in childhood,— words so 
strong, so noble, so cheerful, that they 

7 



3fog ani» potter 

summon the heart of manhood like 
marching-music: "Man's chief end is 
to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." 

Let us accept without reserve this 
teaching of our Divine Lord and Mas- 
ter in regard to the possibility and the 
duty of happiness. It is an essential ele- 
ment of His gospel. The atmosphere 
of the New Testament is not gloom, but 
gladness ; not despondency, but hope. 
The man who is not glad to be a Chris- 
tian is not the right kind of a Christian. 

The first thing that commended the 
Church of Jesus to the weary and dis- 
heartened world in the early years of 
her triumph, was her power to make her 
children happy,— happy in the midst of 
afflictions, happy in the release from 
the burden of guilt, happy in the sense 
of Divine Fatherhood and human bro- 
therhood, happy in Christ's victory over 
sin and death, happy in the assurance 
of an endless life. At midnight in the 
prison, Paul and Silas sang praises, 
and the prisoners heard them. The lat- 
eral force of joy,— that was the power 
of the Church. 
8 



3fop anb $oroer 

"'Poor world/ she cried, 'so deep accurst, 
Thou runn'st from pole to pole 
To seek a draught to slake thy thirst, — 
Go seek it in thy soul.' 

Tears washed the trouble from her face! 

She changed into a child ! 
'Mid weeds and wrecks she stood,— a place 

Of ruin, —but she smiled!" 

Much has the Church lost of that pris- 
tine and powerful joy. The furnace 
of civilization has withered and hard- 
ened her. She has become anxious and 
troubled about many things. She has 
sought earthly honours, earthly pow- 
ers. Richer she is than ever before, and 
probably better organized, and per- 
haps more intelligent, more learned,— 
but not more happy. The one note that 
is most often missing in Christian life, 
in Christian service, is the note of 
spontaneous joy. 

Christians are not as much calmer, 
steadier, stronger, and more cheerful 
than other people as they ought to be. 
Some Christians are among the most 
depressing and worryful people in the 
world, -the most difficult to live with. 

9 



Sop anli potter 

And some, indeed, have adopted a the- 
ory of spiritual ethics which puts a spe- 
cial value upon unhappiness. The dark, 
morbid spirit which mistrusts every 
joyful feeling, and depreciates every 
cheerful virtue, and looks askance 
upon every happy life as if there must 
be something wrong about it, is a de- 
parture from the beauty of Christ's 
teaching to follow the dark-browed 
philosophy of the Orient. 
,j The religion of Jesus tells us that 
y cheerful piety is the best piety. There 
is something finer than to do right 
against inclination ; and that is to have 
an inclination to do right. There is 
something nobler than reluctant obe- 
dience; and that is joyful obedience. 
The rank of virtue is not measured by 
its disagreeableness, but by its sweet- 
ness to the heart that loves it. The real 
test of character is joy. For what you 
rejoice in, that you love. And what 
you love, that you are like. 

I confess frankly that I have no ad- 
miration for the phrase "disinterested 
benevolence," to describe the main- 
10 



3*V aw* potter 

spring of Christian morals. I do not 
find it in the New Testament: neither 
the words, nor the thing. Interested 
benevolence is what I find there. To do 
good to others is to make life interest- 
ing and find peace for our own souls. 
To glorify God is to enjoy Him. That 
was the spirit of the first Christians. 
Was not St. Paul a happier man than 
Herod? Did not St. Peter have more 
joy of his life than Nero? It is said of 
the first disciples that they "did eat 
their meat with gladness and single- 
ness of heart." Not till that pristine 
gladness of life returns will the Church 
regain her early charm for the souls of 
men. Every great revival of Christian 
power— like those which came in the 
times of St. Francis of Assisi and of 
John Wesley-has been marked and 
heralded by a revival of Christian joy. 
If we want the Church to be mighty 
in power to win men, to be a source of 
light in the darkness, a fountain of life 
in the wilderness, we must remember 
and renew, in the spirit of Christ, the re- 
lation of religion to human happiness. 

ii 



Sop arto potter 

II. What, then, are the conditions upon 
which true happiness depends? Christ 
tells us in the text: If ye know these 
things, happy are ye if ye do them . 

This is the blessing with a double if. 
"If ye know,"-this is the knowledge 
which Christ gives to faith. " If ye do,"— 
this is the obedience which faith gives 
to Christ. Knowing and Doing,— these 
are the twin pillars, Jachin and Boaz, 
on which the house of happiness is 
built. The harmony of faith and life, — 
this is the secret of inward joy and 
power. 

You remember when these words 
were spoken. Christ had knelt to wash 
the disciples' feet. Peter, in penitence 
and self-reproach, had hesitated to per- 
mit this lowly service of Divine love. 
But Christ answered by revealing the 
meaning of His act as a symbol of the 
cleansing of the soul from sin. He re- 
minded the disciples of what they knew 
by faith,— that He was their Saviour 
and their Lord. By deed and by word 
He called up before them the great 
spiritual truths which had given new 
12 



3fop an* $otoer 

meaning to their life. He summoned 
them to live according to their know- 
ledge, to act upon the truth which they 
believed. 

I am sure that His words sweep out 
beyond that quiet upper room, beyond 
that beautiful incident, to embrace the 
whole spiritual life. I am sure that He 
is revealing to us the secret of happy 
living which lies at the very heart of 
His gospel, when He says: If ye know 
these things,happy are ye if ye do them . 

i. " If ye know,"— there is, then, a cer- 
tain kind of knowledge without which 
we can not be happy. There are ques- 
tions arising in human nature which 
demand an answer. If it is denied we 
can not help being disappointed, rest- 
less, and sad. This is the price we have 
to pay for being conscious, rational 
creatures. If we were mere plants or 
animals we might goon living through 
our appointed years in complete indif- 
ference to the origin and meaning of 
our existence. But within us, as hu- 
man beings, there is something that 
cries out and rebels against such a 

13 



3fop anli potter 

blind life. Man is born to ask what 
things mean. He is possessed with the 
idea that there is a significance in 
the world beyond that which meets his 
senses. 

John Fiske has brought out this fact 
very clearly in his last book, Through 
Nature to God . He shows that "in the 
morning twilight of existence the Hu- 
man Soul vaguely reached forth to- 
ward something akin to itself, not in 
the realm of fleeting phenomena, but 
in the Eternal Presence beyond. " He 
argues by the analogy of evolution, 
which always presupposes a real rela- 
tion between the life and the environ- 
ment to which it adjusts itself, that 
this forth-reaching and unfolding of 
the soul implies the everlasting real- 
ity of religion. 

The argument is good. But the point 
which concerns us now is simply this. 
The forth-reaching, questioning soul 
can never be satisfied if it touches only 
a dead wall in the darkness, if its seek- 
ing meets with the reply, "You do not 
know, and you never can know, and 
14 ' 



Sop an* potter 

you must not try to know." This is ag- 
nosticism. It is only another way of 
spelling unhappiness. 

"Since Christianity is not true," 
wrote Ernest Renan, "nothing inter- 
ests me, or appears worthy my atten- 
tion." That is the logical result of los- 
ing the knowledge of spiritual things, 
—a life without real interest, with- 
out deep worth, -a life with a broken 
spring. 

But suppose Renan is mistaken. 
Suppose Christianity is true. Then the 
first thing that makes it precious, is 
that it answers our questions, and tells 
us the things that we must know in 
order to be happy. 

Christianity is a revealing religion, 
a teaching religion, a religion which 
conveys to the inquiring spirit certain 
great and positive solutions of the pro- 
blems of life. It is not silent, nor am- 
biguous, nor incomprehensible in its 
utterance. It replies to our questions 
with a knowledge which, though lim- 
ited, is definite and sufficient. It tells 
us that this "order of nature, which 

i5 



3Jop anli $ower 

constitutes the world's experience, is 
only one portion of the total universe." 
That the ruler of both worlds, seen and 
unseen, is God, a Spirit, and the Father 
of our spirits. That He is not distant 
from us nor indifferent to us, but that 
He has given His eternal Son Jesus 
Christ to be our Saviour. That His 
Spirit is ever present with us to help us 
in our conflicts with evil, in our efforts 
toward goodness. That He is making 
all things work together for good to 
those that love Him. That through the 
sacrifice of Christ every one who will 
may obtain the forgiveness of sins and 
everlasting peace. That through the 
resurrection of Christ all who love Him 
and their fellow-men shall obtain the 
victory over death and live forever. 

Now these are doctrines. And it 
is just because Christianity contains 
such doctrines that it satisfies the need 
of man. 

"The first and the most essential con- 
dition of true happiness," writes Pro- 
fessor Carl Hilty, the eminent Swiss 
jurist, "is a firm faith in the moral or- 
16 



3fop anb $oxaer 

der of the world. What is the happy 
life? It is a life of conscious harmony 
with this Divine order of the world, a 
sense, that is to say, of God's compan- 
ionship. And wherein is the profound- 
est unhappiness? It is in the sense 
of remoteness from God, issuing into 
incurable restlessness of heart, and 
finally into incapacity to make one's 
life fruitful or effective." 

What shall we say, then, of the 
proposal to adapt Christianity to the 
needs of the world to-day by eliminat- 
ing or ignoring its characteristic doc- 
trines? You might as well propose to 
fit a ship for service by taking out its 
compass and its charts and cutting off 
its rudder. Make Christianity silent 
in regard to these great questions of 
spiritual existence, and you destroy its 
power to satisfy the heart. 

What would the life of Christ mean if 
these deep truths on which He rested 
and from which He drew His strength, 
were uncertain or illusory? It would 
be the most pathetic, mournful, heart- 
breaking of all phantoms. 

17 



3fop anli potter 

What consoling, cheering power 
would be left in the words of Jesus if 
His doctrine were blotted out and His 
precept left to stand alonePTry the ex- 
periment, if it may be done without ir- 
reverence: read His familiar discourses 
in the shadow of agnosticism. 

* Blessed are the poor in spirit, for 
theirs is a hopeless poverty. Blessed 
are the pure in heart, for they know not 
whether they shall see God. Blessed 
are ye when men shall revile you and 
persecute you, for ye have no promise 
of a heavenly reward. 

1 Enter into thy closet and when thou 
hast shut the door, keep silence, for 
thou canst not tell whether there is 
One to hear thy voice in secret. Take 
no thought for the morrow, for thou 
knowest not whether there is a Father 
who careth for thee. 

' God is unknown, and they that wor- 
ship Him must worship Him in igno- 
rance and doubt. No man hath as- 
cended up into heaven, neither hath 
any man come down from heaven, for 
the Son of Man hath never been in 
18 



3fop an* potter 

heaven. That which is born of the flesh 
is flesh, and that which is born of the 
spirit is a dream. Man shall not live by 
bread alone, neither shall he listen for 
any word from the mouth of God. I pro- 
ceeded forth and came from darkness, 
I came of myself, I know not who sent 
me. My sheep hear my voice, and I 
know them, and they follow me, but I 
can not give unto them eternal life, for 
they shall perish and death shall pluck 
them out of my hand. Let not your 
heart be troubled; ye believe not in 
God, ye need not believe in me. Keep 
my commandments, and I will not pray 
for you, and ye shall abide without a 
Comforter. In the world ye shall have 
tribulation, but be of good cheer, for 
ye know not whether there is a world 
to come. I came forth from darkness 
into the world, and again I leave the 
world and return to darkness. Peace I 
leave with you. If ye loved me ye would 
rejoice because I said, I go into dark- 
ness, and where I am there shall ye be 
also.' 

Is it conceivable that any suffering, 

19 



3fc>2 an& potter 

sorrowing human soul should be com- 
forted and strengthened by such a 
message as this? Could it possibly be 
called a gospel, glad tidings of great 
joy to all people? 

And yet what has been omitted here 
from the words of Christ? Nothing but 
what men call doctrines: the person- 
ality of God, the divinity of Christ, the 
Atonement, the presence and power of 
the Holy Spirit, the sovereignty of the 
Heavenly Father, the truth of the di- 
vine revelation, the reality of the hea- 
venly world, the assurance of immortal 
life. But it is just from these doctrines 
that the teaching of Jesus draws its 
peculiar power to comfort and inspire. 
They are the rays of light which dis- 
perse the gloom of uncertainty. They 
are the tones of celestial music which 
fill the heart of man with good cheer. 

Let us never imagine that we can 
strengthen Christianity by leaving out 
the great doctrines which have given 
it life and power. Faith is not a mere 
matter of feeling. It is the acceptance of 
truth, positive, unchanging, revealed 
20 



Stop an* $otDtr 

truth, in regard to God and the world, 
Christ and the soul, duty and immor- 
tality. The first appeal to faith lies in 
the clearness and vividness, the sim- 
plicity and joy, with which this truth 
is presented. 

There has not been too much preach- 
ing of doctrine in this age. There has 
been too little. And what there has 
been, has been too dull and cold and 
formal, too vague and misty, too wa- 
vering and uncertain. 

What the world wants and waits for 
to-day is a strong, true, vital preaching 
of doctrine. The Church must realize 
anew the precious value of the truths 
which Christ has given her. She must 
not conceal them or cast them away; 
she must bring them out into the light, 
press them home upon the minds and 
hearts of men. She must simplify her 
statement of them, so that men can 
understand what they mean. She must 
not be content with repeating them in 
the language of past centuries. She 
must translate them into the language 
of to-day. First century texts will 

21 



3fop anli potter 

never wear out because they are in- 
spired. But seventeenth century ser- 
mons grow obsolete because they are 
not inspired. Texts from the Word of 
God, preaching in the words of living 
men, — that is what we need. 

We must think about the doctrines 
of Christianity more earnestly and pro- 
foundly. We must renew our Christian 
evidences, as an army fits itself with 
new weapons. The old-fashioned form 
of the "argument from design in na- 
ture" has gone out with the old-fash- 
ioned books of science which it used. 
But there is a newand more wonderful 
proof of God's presence in the world,— 
the argument from moral ends in evo- 
lution. Every real advance of science 
makes the intelligent order of the uni- 
verse more sublimely clear. Every cen- 
tury of human experience confirms the 
Divine claims and adds to the Divine 
triumphs of Jesus Christ. Social pro- 
gress has followed to a hair's breadth 
the lines of His gospel; and He lays 
His hand to-day with heavenly wisdom 
on the social wants that still trouble 
22 



fop anli Ijfrmtx 

us, "the social lies that warp us from 
the living truth." Christ's view of life 
and the world is as full of sweet rea- 
sonableness now as it was in the first 
century. Every moral step that man 
has taken upward has brought a wider, 
clearer vision of his need of such a re- 
ligion as that which Christ teaches. 

Let not the Church falter and blush 
for her doctrines. Let her not turn and 
go down the hill of knowledge to de- 
fend her position in the valley of igno- 
rance. Let her go up the hill, welcom- 
ing every wider outlook, rejoicing in 
every new discovery, gathering fresh 
evidences of the truths which man 
must believe concerning God and new 
motives to the duties which God re- 
quires of man. 

But in doing this we must put the 
emphasis of our preaching to-day 
where it belongs, where Christ puts it, 
on the doctrines that are most impor- 
tant to human life and happiness. We 
can afford to let the fine metaphysi- 
cal distinctions of theology rest for a 
while, and throw all our force on the 

23 



3fop anli itotter 

central, fundamental truths which give 
steadiness and courage and cheer to 
the heart of man. I will not admit that 
it makes no difference to a man of this 
age whether or not he believes in the 
personal God and the Divine Christ. 
If he really believes, it makes all the 
difference between spiritual strength 
and spiritual weakness, between op- 
timism and pessimism. I will not ad- 
mit that it makes no difference to a 
learned scholar or a simple labourer to- 
day whether he accepts or ignores the 
doctrine of the atonement, the doctrine 
of personal immortality. If he knows 
that Christ died for him, that there is 
a future beyond the grave, it makes 
all the difference between despair and 
hope, between misery and consolation, 
between the helpless frailty of a being 
that is puffed out like a candle, and 
the joyful power of an endless life. 

My brethren, we must work and pray 
for a true revival of Christian doctrine 
in our age. We must deepen our own 
hold upon the truths which Christ has 
taught us. We must preach them more 
24 



3fop an* $owr 

simply, more confidently, more reason- 
ably, more earnestly. We must draw 
from them the happiness and the help, 
the comfort and the inspiration, that 
they have to give to the souls of men. 
But most of all, we must keep them in 
close and living touch with the pro- 
blems of daily duty and experience. 
For no doctrine, however high, how- 
ever true, can make men happy until 
it is translated into life. 

ii. Here is the second if, on which the 
power of religion to confer happiness 
depends: If ye know, happy are ye if 
ye do these things . , 

Between the knowing and the doing / 
there is a deep gulf. Into that abyss the 
happiness of many a man slips, and is 
lost. There is no peace, no real and last- 
ing felicity for a human life until the 
gulf is closed, and the continent of con- 
duct meets the continent of creed, edge 
to edge, lip to lip, firmly joined forever. 

It is not a blessing to know the 
things that Christ teaches, and then 
go on living as if they were false or 
doubtful. It is a trouble, a torment, a 

25 



3foj? an* 3$owt 

secret misery. To know that God is 
our Father, and yet to withhold our 
love and service from Him; to know 
that Christ died for us, and yet to deny 
Him and refuse to follow Him ; to know 
that there is an immortal life, and yet 
to waste and lose our souls in the pur- 
suit of sensual pleasure and such small 
portion of the world as we may hope 
to gain,— surely that is the deepest of 
all unhappiness. 

But the right kind of knowing car- 
ries in its heart the doing of the truth. 
And the right kind of doing leads to a 
fuller and happier knowing. "If any 
man will do God's will, " declares Christ, 
"he shall know of the doctrine." 

Let a man take the truth of the Di- 
vine Fatherhood and begin to conform 
his life to its meaning. Let him give up 
his anxious worryings, his murmur- 
ings, his complainings, and trust him- 
self completely to his Father's care. Let 
him do his work from day to day as 
well as he can and leave the results to 
God. Let him come to his Father every 
day and confess his faults and ask for 
26 



3Jop anli $otuer 

help and guidance. Let him try to obey 
and please God for love's sake. Let 
him take refuge from the trials and 
confusions and misunderstandings of 
the world, from the wrath of men and 
the strife of tongues, in the secret of 
his Father's presence. Surely if he 
learns the truth thus, by doing it, he 
will find happiness. 

Or take the truth of immortality. 
Let a man live now in the light of the 
knowledge that he is to live forever. 
How it will deepen and strengthen 
the meaning of his existence, lift him 
above petty cares and ambitions, and 
make the things that are worth while 
precious to his heart ! Let him really 
set his affections on the spiritual side 
of life, let him endure afflictions pa- 
tiently because he knows that they are 
but for a moment, let him think more 
of the soul than of the body, let him do 
good to his fellow-men in order to make 
them sharers of his immortal hope, let 
him purify his love and friendship that 
they may be fit for the heavenly life. 
Surely the man who does these things 

27 



3fop an* $owr 

will be happy. It will be with him as 
with Lazarus, in Robert Browning's 
poem, "The Epistle of Karshish." 
Others will look at him with wonder 
and say: 

"Whence has the man the balm that brightens 

all? 
This grown man eyes the world now like a 

child." 

Yes, my brethren, this is the sure re- 
sult of following out the doctrines of 
Christ in action, of living the truths 
that He teaches,— a simple life, a child- 
like life, a happy life. And this also the 
Church needs to-day, as well as a true 
revival of doctrine. 

A revival of simplicity, a revival of 
sincerity, a revival of work : this will 
restore unto us the joy of salvation. 
And with the joy of salvation will come 
a renewal and expansion of power. 

The inconsistency of Christians is 
the stronghold of unbelief. The lack of 
vital joy in the Church is the chief cause 
of indifference in the world. The feeble 
energy, the faltering and reluctant 
spirit, the weariness in well-doing with 
28 



Sop an* $otoer 

which too many believers impoverish 
and sadden their own hearts, make 
other men question the reality and 
value of religion and turn away from 
it in cool neglect. 

What, then, is the duty of the Church? 
What must she do to win the confi- 
dence of the world? What is the best 
way for her to "prove her doctrine all 
divine"? 

First, she must increase her labours 
in the love of men: second, she must 
practice the simple life, deepening her 
trust in God. 

Suppose that a fresh flood of energy, 
brave, cheerful, joyous energy, should 
be poured into all the forms of Chris- 
tian work. Suppose that Foreign Mis- 
sions and Home Missions should no 
longer have to plead and beg for sup- 
port, but that plenty of money should 
come flowing in to send out every mis- 
sionary that wants to go, and that 
plenty of the strongest and best young 
men should dedicate their lives to the 
ministry of Christ, and that every 
household where His gospel is be- 

29 



3fop an* potter 

lieved should find its highest honour 
and its greatest joy in helping to ex- 
tend His kingdom. 

And then suppose that the Christian 
life, in its daily manifestation, should 
come to be marked and known by sim- 
plicity and happiness. Suppose that 
the followers of Jesus should really es- 
cape from bondage to the evil spirits 
of avarice and luxury which infect and 
torment so much of our complicated, 
tangled, artificial, modern life. Suppose 
that instead of increasing their wants 
and their desires, instead of loading 
themselves down on life's journey with 
so many bags and parcels and boxes of 
superfluous luggage and bric-a-brac 
that they are forced to sit down by the 
roadside and gasp for breath, instead 
of wearing themselves out in the dusty 
ways of ostentation and vain show or 
embittering their hearts because they 
can not succeed in getting into the 
weary race of wealth and fashion,— 
suppose instead of all this, they should 
turn to quiet ways, lowly pleasures, 
pure and simple joys, "plain living and 
30 



3fop anii ^otuer 

high thinking." Suppose they should 
truly find and show their happiness in 
the knowledge that God loves them 
and Christ died for them and heaven 
is sure, and so set their hearts free 
to rejoice in life's common mercies, 
the light of the sun, the blue of the 
sky, the splendour of the sea, the peace 
of the everlasting hills, the song of 
birds, the sweetness of flowers, the 
wholesome savour of good food, the 
delights of action and motion, the re- 
freshment of sleep, the charm of music, 
the blessings of human love and friend- 
ship,— rejoice in all these without fear 
or misgiving, because they come from 
God and because Christ has sanctified 
them all by His presence and touch. 

Suppose, I say, that such a revival 
of the joy of living in Christ and work- 
ing for Christ should silently sweep 
over the Church in the Twentieth Cen- 
tury. What would happen? Great would 
be the peace of her children. Greater 
still would be their power. 

This is the message which I have 
to bring to you, my brethren, in this 

3i 



3fop an* potter 

General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
Church. You may wonder that it is not 
more distinctive, more ecclesiastical, 
more specially adapted to the pecu- 
liarities of our own denomination. You 
may think that it is a message which 
could just as well be brought to any 
other Church on any other occasion. 
With all my heart I hope that is true. 
The things that I care for most in our 
Church are not those which divide us 
from other Christians but those which 
unite us to them. The things that I 
love most in Christianity are those 
which give it power to save and sat- 
isfy, to console and cheer, to inspire 
and bless human hearts and lives. The 
thing that I desire most for Presby- 
terianism is that it should prove its 
mission and extend its influence in the 
world by making men happy in the 
knowing and the doing of the things 
which Christ teaches. 

The Church that theTwentieth Cen- 
tury will hear most gladly and honour 
most sincerely will have two marks. It 
will be the Church that teaches most 
32 



3*V anb potter 

clearly and strongly the truths that 
Jesus taught. It will be the Church that 
finds most happiness in living the sim- 
ple life and doing good in the world. 



33 



Ci)e Battle of 3Ufe 




%\>t Battle of 3Ufe 

iaoman0 xil 21 : ©tietcome etrii tottb goon. 

H E Battle of Life is an an- 
cient phrase consecrated 
by use in Commencement 
Orations without num- 
ber. Two modern expres- 
sions have taken their 
place beside it in our own day: the 
Strenuous Life, and the Simple Life. 
Each of these phrases has its own 
significance and value. It is when they 
are overemphasized and driven to ex- 
tremes that they lose their truth and 
become catch-words of folly. The sim- 
ple life which blandly ignores all care 
and conflict, soon becomes flabby and 
invertebrate, sentimental and gelati- 
nous. The strenuous life which does 
everythingwith set jaws and clenched 
fists and fierce effort, soon becomes 
strained and violent, a prolonged ner- 
vous spasm. 

Somewhere between these two ex- 
tremes must lie the golden mean: a 
life that has strength and simplicity, 
courage and calm, power and peace. 
But how can we find this golden line 

37 



fop atto $otuer 

and live along it? Some truth there 
must be in the old phrase which speaks 
of life as a battle. No conflict, no char- 
acter. Without strife, a weak life. But 
what is the real meaning of the bat- 
tle? What is the vital issue at stake? 
What are the things worth fighting 
for? In what spirit, with what weapons, 
are we to take our part in the warfare? 

There is an answer to these ques- 
tions in the text: Overcome evil with 
good . The man who knows this text 
by heart, knows the secret of a life that 
is both strenuous and simple. For here 
we find the three things that we need 
most: a call to the real battle of life; 
a plan for the right campaign ; and a 
promise of final victory. 
I. Every man, like the knight in the 
old legend, is born on a field of battle. 
But the warfare is not carnal, it is spir- 
itual. Not the east against the west, the 
north against the south, the " Haves" 
against the "Have-nots"; but the evil 
against the good, -that is the real con- 
flict of life. 

The attempt to deny or ignore this 
38 



C&e Battle of life 

conflict has been the stock in trade of 
every false doctrine that has befogged 
and bewildered the world since the 
days of Eden. The fairy tale that the 
old serpent told to Eve is a poetic sym- 
bol of the lie fundamental,— the theory 
that sin does not mean death, because 
it has no real existence and makes no 
real difference. This ancient falsehood 
has an infinite wardrobe of disguises. 

You will find it pranked out in philo- 
sophic garb in the doctrines of those 
who teach that all things are linked 
together by necessity of nature or Di- 
vine will, and that nothing could ever 
have happened otherwise than just as 
it has come to pass. Such a theory of 
the universe blots out all difference be- 
tween good and evil except in name. 
It leaves the fence-posts standing, but 
it takes away the rails, and throws 
everything into one field of the inev- 
itable. 

You will find the same falsehood in a 
more crude form in the popular teach- 
ings of what men call "the spirit of the 
age," the secular spirit. According to 

39 



fop anli potter 

these doctrines the problem of civili- 
zation is merely a problem of ways and 
means. If society were better organ- 
ized, if wealth were more equally dis- 
tributed, if laws were changed, or per- 
haps abolished, all would be well. If 
everybody had a full dinner-pail, no- 
body need care about an empty heart. 
Human misery the secular spirit re- 
cognizes, but it absolutely ignores the 
fact that nine-tenths of human misery 
comes from human sin. 

You will find the same falsehood dis- 
guised in sentimental costume in the 
very modern comedy of Christian Sci- 
ence, which dresses the denial of evil in 
pastoral garb of white frock and pink 
ribbons, like an innocent shepherdess 
among her lambs. "Evil is nothing," 
says this wonderful Science. "It does 
not really exist. It is an illusion of mor- 
tal mind. Shut your eyes and it will 
vanish." 

Yes, but open your eyes again and 

you will see it in the same place, in the 

same form, doing the same work. A 

most persistent nothing, a most pow- 

40 



%ty Battle of iift 

erful nothing! Not the shadow cast by 
the good, but the cloud that hides the 
sun and casts the shadow. Not the "si- 
lence implying sound," but the discord 
breaking the harmony. Evil is as real 
as the fire that burns you, as the flood 
that drowns you. Evil is as real as the 
typhoid germ that you can put under 
a microscope and see it squirm and 
grow. Evil is negative,— yes, but it is a 
real negative,— as real as darkness, as 
real as death. 

There are two things in every hu- 
man heart which bear witness to the 
existence and reality of evil : first, our 
judgments of regret, and second, our 
judgments of condemnation. 

How often we say to ourselves, 
"Would that this had not come to 
pass!" How often we feel in regard 
to our own actions, "Would that I had 
done differently !" This is the judgment 
of regret; and it is a silent witness of 
the heart to the conviction that some 
things are not inevitable. It is the con- 
fession that a battle has been lost 
which might have been won. It is the 

41 



3fop anli |towr 

acknowledgment that things which 
are, but are not right, need not have 
been, if we and our fellow-men had seen 
more clearly and followed more faith- 
fully the guiding star of the good. 

And then, out of the judgment of re- 
gret, springs the deeper judgment of 
condemnation. If the failure in duty 
was not inevitable, then it was base. 
The false word, the unjust deed, the 
foul action, seen as a surrender to evil, 
appears hateful and guilty. It deserves 
the indignation and the shame which 
attach to all treason. And the spirit 
which lies behind all these forms of dis- 
loyalty to the good,— the spirit which 
issues in selfishness and sensuality, 
cruelty and lust, intemperance and 
covetousness, — this animating spirit 
of evil which works against the Divine 
will and mars the peace and order of 
the universe is the great Adversary 
against whom we must fight for our 
own lives and the life of the world. 

All around us lies his dark, secret 
kingdom, tempting, threatening, as- 
saulting the soul. To ignore it, is to 
42 



Wt)t Battle of 3Lift 

walk blindfold among snares and pit- 
falls. Try if you will to shut it out, 
by wrapping your heart in dreams of 
beauty and joy, living in the fair re- 
gions of art or philosophy, reading only 
the books which speak of evil as if it 
did not exist orwere only another form 
of goodness. Soon you will be shaken 
out of the dream into the reality. You 
will come into contact with evil so 
close, so loathsome that you can not 
deny it. You will see that it has its sol- 
diers, its servants, its emissaries, as 
ardent and enthusiastic in its cause 
as if they were serving the noblest of 
masters. It inspires literature and sup- 
ports newspapers ; now intelligent and 
cultured, drawing the arts into its ser- 
vice ; now coarse and vulgar, with pic- 
tures that shock the taste as much as 
they debase the conscience. It wins ad- 
herents and turns them into advocates. 
It organizes the dealers in drunken- 
ness and debauchery into powerful so- 
cieties for mutual protection. It creates 
lobbies and controls legislatures. It 
corrupts the government of great cit- 

43 



3fop an* potter 

ies and rots out the social life of small 
towns. Even when its outward manifes- 
tations are repressed and its grosser 
forms resisted, it steals its way into 
men's hearts, eating out the roots of hu- 
man trust and brotherhood and kind- 
ness, and filling the air with gossip and 
spite, envy, malice and all uncharita- 
bleness. 

I am glad that since we have to live 
in a world where evil exists, we have 
a religion which does not bandage our 
eyes. The first thing that we need to 
have religion do for us is to teach us to 
face the facts. No man can come into 
touch with the Divine personality of 
Jesus Christ, no man can listen to His 
teaching, without feeling that the dis- 
tinction between good and evil to Him 
is vital and everlasting. The choice be- 
tween them is to Him the great choice. 
The conflict between them is to Him 
the great conflict. Evil is the one thing 
that God has never willed. Good is the 
one thing that He wills forever. Evil 
is first and last a rebellion against His 
will. He is altogether on the side of 
44 



Cjje Battle of %ift 

good. Much that is, is contrary to His 
will. There is a mighty strife going 
on, a battle with eternal issues, but 
not an eternal battle. The evil that is 
against Him shall be cast out and shall 
perish. The good that overcomes the 
evil shall live forever. And those who 
yield their lives to God and receive His 
righteousness in Christ are made par- 
takers of everlasting life. 

This is the teaching of Jesus: and I 
thank God for the honesty and virility 
of His religion which makes us face 
the facts and calls us to take a man's 
part in the real battle of life. 
II. But what is the plan of campaign 
which Christianity sets before us? In 
what spirit and with what weapons are 
we to enter the great conflict against 
the evil that is in the world? 

The natural feeling of the heart in 
the presence of evil is wrath, and the 
natural weapon of wrath is force. To 
punish crime, to avenge wrong, to put 
down wickedness with a strong hand, 
—that is the first impulse of every one 
who has the instincts of manhood. 

45 



3fop an* potter 

And as this is natural, so it is, also, 
within a certain sphere needful, and to 
a certain extent useful. Armies and 
navies exist, at least in theory, to pre- 
ventinjusticeamongnations. Laws are 
made to punish wrong-doers. Courts, 
police-forces, and prisons are main- 
tained to suppress evil with power. 

But while we recognize this method 
of dealing with evil as useful to a cer- 
tain extent and necessary within a cer- 
tain sphere, we must remember that 
it has its strict limitations. 

First, it belongs to the state and not 
to the individual. When the private 
man assumes to punish evil with force 
he sanctions lynch-law, which is a 
terror to the innocent as well as to 
the guilty. Then we have the blood- 
feud and the vendetta, mob-rule and 
anarchy. 

Second, the suppression of evil by 
force is only a temporary relief, a pro- 
tection for the moment. It does not 
touch the root of the matter. You send 
the murderer out of the world by a 
regulated flash of lightning. But you 
46 



Wsn Battle of 3Ufe 

do not send murder out of the world. 
To do that you must reach and change 
the heart of Cain. You put the thief in 
prison, but when he comes out he will 
be ready to steal again, unless you can 
purify his conscience and control his 
will. You assault and overthrow some 
system of misgovernment, and "turn 
the rascals out." But unless you have 
something better to substitute, all you 
have done is to make room for a new 
set of rascals,— a new swarm of mos- 
quitoes with fresh appetites and larger 
capacities. 

Third, the method of fighting evil 
with force on its own ground often has 
a bad effect on those who follow it. 
Wrestle with a chimney-sweep and 
you will need a bath. Throw back the 
mud that is thrown at you, and you will 
have dirty hands. Answer Shimei when 
he curses you and you will echo his 
profanity. Many a man has entered 
a crusade against intemperance and 
proved himself as intemperate in his 
language as other men are in their po- 
tations. Many a man has attacked a 

47 



3op anli potter 

bad cause with righteous indignation 
and ended in a personal squabble with 
most unrighteous anger. 

No, my brother-men, the best way to 
fight against evil is not to meet it on 
its own ground with its own weapons. 
There is a nobler method of warfare, a 
divine plan of campaign given to us in 
the religion of Christ. Overcome evil 
with good . This is the secret of the 
battle of life. 

Evil is potent not so much because it 
has command of money and the "big 
battalions," but because it has control 
of the hearts of men. It spreads be- 
cause human hearts are lying fallow 
and ready to welcome the seeds of all 
kinds of weeds. It persists because too 
much of what we call virtue is nega- 
tive, and selfish, and frost-bound, - cold 
storage virtue,— the poor piety which 
terminates in a trembling anxiety to 
save our own souls. 

The way to counteract and conquer 

evil in the world is to give our own 

hearts to the dominion of good, and 

work the works of God while it is day. 

48 



Zi)t Battle of iift 

The strongest of all obstacles to the 
advance of evil is a clean and generous 
man, doing his duty from day to day, 
and winning others, by his cheerful 
fidelity, to serve the same Master. Dis- 
eases are not the only things that are 
contagious. Courage is contagious. 
Kindness is contagious. Manly integ- 
rity is contagious. All the positive vir- 
tues, with red blood in their veins, are 
contagious. The heaviest blow that 
you can strike at the kingdom of evil 
is just to follow the advice which the 
dying Sir Walter Scott gave to his son- 
in-law, Lockhart: "Be a good man." 
And if you want to know how, there is 
but one perfect and supreme example, 
-the life of Him who not only did no 
evil but went about doing good. 

Now take that thought of fighting 
evil with good and apply it to our 
world and to ourselves. 

Here are monstrous evils and vices in 
society. Let intemperance be the type 
of them all, because so many of the 
others are its children. Drunkenness 
ruins more homes and wrecks more 

49 



3foj anli $oxoer 

lives than war. How shall we oppose 
it? I do not say that we shall not pass 
resolutions and make laws against it. 
But I do say that we can never really 
conquer the evil in this way. I hold 
with Phillips Brooks that "all prohibi- 
tory measures are negative. That they 
have their uses no one can doubt. That 
they have their limits is just as clear." 
The stronghold of intemperance lies 
in the vacancy and despair of men's 
minds. The way to attack it is to make 
the sober life beautiful and happy and 
full of interest. Teach your boys how 
to work, how to read, how to play, you 
fathers, before you send them to col- 
lege, if you want to guard them against 
the temptations of strong drink and 
the many shames and sorrows that go 
with it. Make the life of your commu- 
nity cheerful and pleasant and interest- 
ing, you reformers, provide men with 
recreation which will not harm them, 
if you want to take away the power of 
the gilded saloon and the grimy booz- 
ing-ken. Parks and play-grounds, li- 
braries and music-rooms, clean homes 
5o 



Wi)t Battle of ILtft 

and cheerful churches,— these are the 
efficient foes of intemperance. And the 
same thing is true of gambling and 
lubricity and all the other vices which 
drag men down by the lower side of 
their nature because the higher side 
has nothing to cling to, nothing to sus- 
tain it and hold it up. 

What are you going to do, my bro- 
ther-men, for this higher side of hu- 
man life? What contribution are you 
going to make of your strength, your 
time, your influence, your money, your 
self, to make a cleaner, fuller, happier, 
larger, nobler life possible for some of 
your fellow-men ? I do not ask how you 
are going to do it. You may do it in 
business, in the law, in medicine, in the 
ministry, in teaching, in literature. But 
this is the question: What are you go- 
ing to give personally to make the hu- 
man life of the place where you do 
your work, purer, stronger, brighter, 
better, and more worth living? That 
will be your best part in the warfare 
against vice and crime. 

The positive method is the only effi- 

5i 



3lop an* potter 

cient way to combat intellectual error 
and spiritual evil. False doctrines are 
never argued out of the world. They 
are pushed back by the incoming of 
the truth as the darkness is pushed 
back by the dawn. Phillips Brooks was 
right. It is not worth while to cross the 
street to break a man's idol. It is worth 
while to cross the ocean to tell him 
about God. The skilful fencer who at- 
tacks your doubts and drives you from 
corner to corner of unbelief and leaves 
you at last in doubt whether you doubt 
or not, does you a certain service. He 
gives you exercise, takes the conceit 
out of you. But the man who lays hold 
of the real faith that is hidden under- 
neath your doubt,— the silent longing 
for God and goodness, the secret at- 
traction that draws your heart toward 
Jesus Christ as the only one who has 
the words of everlasting life,— the man 
who takes hold of this buried faith 
and quickens it and makes you dare to 
try to live by it,— ah, that is the man 
who helps you indeed. My brothers, 
if any of you are going to be preach- 
52 



wt>t mm of itfe 

ers remember this. What we men 
need is not so much an answer to our 
doubts, as more nourishment for our 
faith. 

The positive method is the only way 
of victory in our struggle with the evil 
that dwells in our own nature and be- 
sets our own hearts. The reason why 
many men fail, is because they thrust 
the vice out and then forget to lay hold 
on the virtue. They evict the unclean 
spirit and leave a vacant house. To 
cease to do evil is important, but to 
learn to do good is far more impor- 
tant. Reformation never saved a man. 
Transformation is the only way. And 
to be transformed, a man must wel- 
come the Spirit of Good, the Holy 
Spirit, into his heart, and work with 
Him every day, doing the will of God. 

There are two waysof fighting fever. 
One is to dose the sick people with 
quinine and keep the fever down. The 
other is to drain the marshes, and pu- 
rify the water, and cleanse the houses, 
and drive the fever out. Try negative, 
repressive religion, and you may live, 

53 



3fop an* $ower 

but you will be an invalid. Try positive, 
vital religion, and you will be Well. 

There is an absorption of good that 
guards the soul against the infection 
of evil. There is a life of fellowship with 
Christ that can pass through the fur- 
nace of the world without the smell of 
fire on its garments,— a life that is full 
of interest as H is was, being ever about 
H is Father's business ; a life that is free 
and generous and blessed, as His was, 
being spent in doing good, and re- 
freshed by the sense of God's presence 
and approval. 

Last summer, I saw two streams 
emptying into the sea. One was a slug- 
gish, niggardly rivulet, in a wide, fat, 
muddy bed; and every day the tide 
came in and drowned out that poor 
little stream, and filled it with bitter 
brine. The other was a vigorous, joy- 
ful, brimming mountain-river, fed from 
unfailing springs among the hills ; and 
all the time it swept the salt water 
back before it and kept itself pure and 
sweet; and when the tide came in, it 
only made the fresh water rise higher 
54 



Wt)t Battle of 3Ltfe 

and gather new strength by the de- 
lay; and ever the living stream poured 
forth into the ocean its tribute of living 
water,— the symbol of that influence 
which keeps the ocean of life from turn- 
ing into a Dead Sea of wickedness. 

My brother-men, will you take that 
living stream as a type of your life in 
the world? The question for you is not 
what you are going to get out of the 
world, but what you are going to give 
to the world. The only way to meet 
and overcome the inflowing tide of evil 
is to roll against it the outflowing river 
of good. 

My prayer for you is that you may 
receive from Christ not only the watch- 
word of this nobler life, but also the 
power to fulfil it. 



55 



%ty $oofc £HD amap 




€i)e $ooti ®m Wav 

3Ieremtab tit, ie: Ataxia pe tn tbe toags anD 
see; anD ask for tfie oiD patbs, tobere 10 tbe 
gooo toap ; anD toalb tberein, anD ge sball 
fino test for gout souls- 

HIS advice was given to 
people who were in peril 
and perplexity. Theking- 
domof Judah was threat- 
ened with destruction, 
which could be averted 
only by wise and prompt action. But 
the trouble was to decide in which di- 
rection that action should be taken. 
The nation was divided into loud par- 
ties, and these parties into noisy wings. 
Every man had a theory of his own, or 
a variation of some other man's theory. 
Some favoured an alliance with the 
East; some preferred the friendship of 
the West; others, a course of diplo- 
matic dalliance; a few stood out for 
honest independence. Some said that 
what the country needed was an in- 
crease of wealth; some held that a 
splendid and luxurious court like that 
of Pharaoh or Nebuchadnezzar would 
bring prosperity; others maintained 

59 



3fop an* potter 

that the troubles of the land could be 
healed only by a return to " simpler 
manners, purer laws." Among the no- 
bility and their followers all kinds of 
novelties in the worship of idols were in 
fashion and new gods were imported 
every season. The philosophers culti- 
vated a discreet indifference to all reli- 
gious questions. The prophets taught 
that the only salvation for the nation 
lay in the putting away of idolatry and 
the revival of faith in the living and 
true God. 

Judah was like a man standing at 
the cross-roads, on a stormy night, 
with all the guide-posts blown down. 
Meantime the Babylonian foe was clos- 
ing in around Jerusalem, and it was 
necessary to do something, or die. 

The liberty of choice was an embar- 
rassment.The minds of men alternated 
between that rash haste which is ready 
to follow any leader who makes noise 
enough, and that skeptical spirit which 
doubts whether any line of action can 
be right because so many lines are 
open. Into this atmosphere of fever 
60 



and fog came the word of the prophet. 
Let us consider what it means. 

Stand ye in the ways and see : that 
means deliberation. When you are at 
a junction it is no time to shut your 
eyes and run at full speed. Where there 
are so many ways some of them are 
likely to be wrong. A turning-point is 
the place for prudence and forethought. 

Ask for the old paths, what is the 
good way : that means guidance. No 
man is forced to face the problems of 
life alone. Other men have tried the dif- 
ferent ways. Peace, prosperity, victory 
have been won by the nation in former 
times. Inquire of the past how these 
blessings were secured. Look for the 
path which has already led to safety 
and happiness. Let history teach you 
which among all these crossing ways 
is the best to follow. 

And walk therein : that means ac- 
tion. When you have deliberated, when 
you have seen the guiding light upon 
the way of security and peace, then go 
ahead. Prudence is worthless unless 
you put it into practice. When in doubt 

61 



3(op anb $otatr 

do nothing; but as long as you do no- 
thing you will be in doubt. Never man 
or nation was saved by inaction. The 
only way out of danger is the way into 
work. Gird up your loins, trembling 
Judah, and push along your chosen 
path, steadily, bravely, strenuously, 
until you come to your promised rest. 

Now I am sure this was good coun- 
sel that the prophet gave to his peo- 
ple in the days of perplexity. It would 
have been well for them if they had 
followed it. I am sure it is also good 
counsel for us, a word of God to steady 
us and stimulate us amid life's confu- 
sions. Let me make it a personal mes- 
sage to you. 

Stand in the ways : Ask for the good 
way : Walk therein : — Deliberation, 
Guidance, Action,— Willyou take these 
words with you, and try to make them 
a vital influence in your life? 
I. First, I ask you to stand in the ways 
and see. I do not mean to say that 
you have not already been doing this 
to a certain extent. The great world 
is crossed by human footsteps which 
62 



make paths leading in all directions. 
Men travel through on different ways ; 
and I suppose some of you have noticed 
the fact, and thought a little about it. 

There is the way of sensuality. Those 
who walk in it take appetite as their 
guide. Their main object in life is to 
gratify their physical desires. Some of 
them are delicate, and some of them 
are coarse. That is a matter of tem- 
perament. But all of them are hungry. 
That is a matter of principle. Whether 
they grub in the mire for their food 
like swine, or browse daintily upon the 
tree-tops like the giraffe, the question 
of life for those who follow this way is 
the same. "How much can we hold? 
How can we obtain the most pleasure 
for these five senses of ours before they 
wear out?" And the watch word of their 
journey is, "Let us eat and drink and 
be merry, for we do not expect to die 
to-morrow." 

There is the way of avarice. Those 
who follow it make haste to be rich. 
The almighty dollar rolls before them 
along the road, and they chase it. Some 

63 



Sop anli ftotaer 

of them plod patiently along the high- 
way of toil. Others are always leaping 
fences and trying to find short cuts to 
wealth. But they are alike in this : what- 
ever they do by way of avocation, the 
real vocation of their life is to make 
money. If they fail, they are hard and 
bitter; if they succeed they are hard 
and proud. But they all bow down to the 
golden calf, and their motto is, " Lay up 
for yourselves treasures upon earth." 

There is the way of social ambition. 
Those who walk in it have their eyes 
fixed on various prizes, such as titles 
of honour, public office, large acquaint- 
ance with prosperous people, the repu- 
tation of leading the fashion. But the 
real satisfaction that they get out of 
it all is simply the feeling of notoriety, 
the sense of belonging to a circle to 
which ordinary people are not admit- 
ted and to whose doings the world, just 
for this reason, pays envious attention. 
This way is less like a road than like 
a ladder. Most of the people who are 
on it are "climbers." 

There are other ways, less clearly 
64 



Wt)t <©oofc <©fo Waj? 

marked, more difficult to trace, -the 
way of moral indifference, the way of 
intellectual pride, the way of hypo- 
crisy, the way of indecision. This last 
is not a single road ; it is a net-work of 
sheep-tracks, crossing and recrossing 
the great highways, leading in every 
direction, and ending nowhere. The 
men who wander in these aimless 
paths go up and down through the 
world, changing their purposes, fol- 
lowing one another blindly, forever 
travelling but never arriving at the 
goal of their journey. 

Through all this tangle there runs 
another way,— the path of faith and 
duty. Those who walk in it believe that 
life has a meaning, the fulfilment of 
God's will, and a goal, the attainment 
of perfect harmony with Him. They 
try to make the best of themselves in 
soul and body by training and disci- 
pline. They endeavour to put their tal- 
ents to the noblest use in the service 
of their fellow-men, and to unfold their 
faculties to the highest joy and power 
in the life of the Spirit. They seek an 

65 



3fop an* potter 

education to fit them for work, and 
they do their work well because it is a 
part of their education. They respect 
their consciences, and cherish their 
ideals. They put forth an honest effort 
to be good and to do good and to 
make the world better. They often 
stumble. They sometimes fall. But, 
take their life from end to end, it is a 
faithful attempt to walk in "the way 
of righteousness, which is the way of 
peace." 

Such are some of the ways that lead 
through the world. And they are all 
open to us. We can travel by the road 
that pleases us. Heredity gives us our 
outfit. Environment supplies our com- 
pany. But when we come to the cross- 
roads, the question is, "Boy, which 
way will you ride?" 

Deliberation is necessary, unless we 
wish to play a fool's part. No amount of 
energy will take the place of thought. 
A strenuous life, with its eyes shut, is 
a kind of wild insanity. A drifting life, 
with its eyes open, is a kind of mild 
idiocy. 

66 



Wbt <Socfo ©lb Wag 

The real question is, "How will you 
live? After what rule and pattern? 
Along what way ? Toward what end ? " 

Will you let chance answer that 
question for you? Will you let yourself 
be led blindfold by the first guide that 
offers, or run stupidly after the crowd 
without asking whither they are go- 
ing? You would not act so in regard 
to the shortest earthly journey. You 
would not rush into the railway sta- 
tion and jump aboard of the first train 
you saw, without looking at the sign- 
boards. Surely if there is anything in 
regard to which we need to exercise 
deliberation, it is the choice of the way 
that we are to take through the world. 
You have thought a good deal about 
what business, what profession you 
are to follow. Think more deeply, I 
beg you, about how you are to follow 
it and what you are to follow it for. 
Stand in the ways, and see . 
II. Second, I earnestly advise you to 
ask for the old paths, where is the good 
way . 

I do not regard this as a mere coun- 

67 



3fop anli $otttr 

sel of conservatism, an unqualified 
commendation of antiquity. True, it 
implies that the good way will not be 
a new discovery, a track that you and 
I strike out for ourselves. Among the 
paths of conduct, that which is entirely 
original is likely to be false, and that 
which is true is likely to have some 
footprints on it. When a man comes to 
us with a scheme of life which he has 
made all by himself, we may safely say 
to him, as the old composer said to 
the young musician who brought him 
a symphony of the future, "It is both 
new and beautiful ; but that which is 
new is not beautiful, and that which 
is beautiful is not new." 

But this is by no means the same 
as saying that everything ancient is 
therefore beautiful and true, or that all 
the old ways are good. The very point 
of the text is that we must discrimi- 
nate among antiquities,— a thing as 
necessary in old chairs and old books 
as in old ways. 

Evil is almost, if not quite, as an- 
cient as good. Folly and wisdom, 
68 



m)t (gooii (Bin Ha? 

among men at least, are twins, and 
we can not distinguish between them 
by the grey hairs. Adam's way was old 
enough ; and so was the way of Cain, 
and of Noah's vile son, and of Lot's 
lewd daughters, and of Balaam, and 
of Jezebel, and of Manasseh. Judas 
Iscariot was as old as St. John. Ana- 
nias and Sapphira were of the same 
age with St. Peter and St. Paul. 

What we are to ask for is not sim- 
ply the old way, but that one among 
the old ways which has been tested 
and tried and proved to be the good 
way. The Spirit of Wisdom tells us 
that we are not to work this way out 
by logarithms, or evolve it from our 
own inner consciousness, but to learn 
what it is by looking at the lives of 
other men and marking the lessons 
which they teach us. Experience has 
been compared to the stern-light of 
a ship which shines only on the road 
that has been traversed. But the stern- 
light of a ship that sails before you is 
a head-light to you. 

You do not need to try everything 

69 



3op anli potter 

for yourself in order to understand 
what it means. The writer of Ecclesi- 
astes tells us that he gave his heart 
to know madness and folly; and that 
it was all vanity and vexation of spirit. 
It will be a wise economy for us to ac- 
cept his lesson without paying his tui- 
tion-fee over again. 

It is perfectly safe for a man to take 
it as a fact that fire burns, without put- 
ting his hand into the flame. He does 
not need to try perilous experiments 
with his own soul in order to make sure 
that lust defiles, that avarice hardens, 
that frivolity empties, that selfishness 
cankers the heart. He may understand 
the end of the way of sensuality by 
looking at any old pleasure-seeker, 

"Gray, and gap-toothed, and lean as death," 

mumbling the dainties that he can 
no longer enjoy, and glowering with 
bleared eyes at the indulgences which 
now mock him even while they tempt 
him. The goal of the path of covetous- 
ness may be discerned in the face of 
any old money- worshipper; keeping 
70 



guard over his piles of wealth, like a 
surly watch-dog; or, if perchance he 
has failed, haunting the places where 
fortune has deceived him, like an un- 
quiet ghost. 

Inquire and learn ; consider and dis- 
cern. There need be no doubt about 
the direction of life's various ways. 

Which are the nations that have 
been most peaceful and noble and truly 
prosperous? Those that have followed 
pride and luxury and idolatry ? Or those 
that have cherished sobriety and jus- 
tice, and acknowledged the Divine law 
of righteousness? 

Which are the families that have 
been most serene and pure and truly 
fortunate? Those in which there has 
been no discipline, no restraint, no 
common faith, no mutual love? Or 
those in which sincere religion has 
swayed life to its stern and gracious 
laws, those in which parents and chil- 
dren have walked together to the 
House of God, and knelt together at 
His altar, and rejoiced together in His 
service? 

7i 



3>op anli |tototr 

I tell you, my brother-men, it has be- 
come too much the fashion in these 
latter days to sneer and jeer at the old- 
fashioned ways of the old-fashioned 
American household. Something too 
much of iron there may have been in 
the Puritan's temper; something too 
little of sunlight may have come in 
through the narrow windows of his 
house. But that house had foundations, 
and the virile virtues lived in it. There 
were plenty of red corpuscles in his 
blood, and his heart beat in time with 
the eternal laws of right, even though 
its pulsations sometimes seemed a lit- 
tle slow and heavy. It would be well 
for us if we could get back into the 
old way, which proved itself to be the 
good way, and maintain, as our fathers 
did, the sanctity of the family, the sa- 
credness of the marriage-vow, the so- 
lemnity of the mutual duties binding 
parents and children together. From 
the households that followed this way 
have come men that could rule them- 
selves as well as their fellows, women 
that could be trusted as well as loved. 
72 



Read the history of such families, and 
you will understand the truth of the 
poet's words:— 

"Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-con- 
trol, - 

These three alone lead life to sovereign 
power." 

Look around you in the world and 
see what way it is that has brought 
your fellow-men to peace and quiet- 
ness of heart, to security and honour 
of life. Is it the way of unbridled self- 
indulgence, of unscrupulous greed, of 
aimless indolence? Or is it the way 
of self-denial, of cheerful industry, of 
fair dealing, of faithful service? If true 
honour lies in the respect and grateful 
love of one's fellow-men, if true success 
lies in a contented heart and a peace- 
ful conscience, then the men who have 
reached the highest goal of life are 
those who have followed most closely 
the way to which Jesus Christ points 
us and in which He goes before us. 
III. Walk therein and ye shall find rest 
for your souls. Right action brings rest. 

73 



3fo£ an* $owr 

Rest! Rest! How that word rings 
like a sweet bell through the turmoil 
of our age. We are rushing to and fro, 
destroying rest in our search for it. We 
drive our automobiles from one place 
to another, at furious speed, not know- 
ing what we shall do when we get 
there. We make haste to acquire new 
possessions, not knowing how we shall 
use them when they are ours. We are 
in a fever of new discoveries and theo- 
ries, not knowing how to apply them 
when they are made. We feed our- 
selves upon novel speculations until 
our heads swim with the vertigo of 
universal knowledge which changes 
into the paresis of universal doubt. 

But in the hours of silence, the Spirit 
of Wisdom whispers a secret to our 
hearts. Rest depends upon conduct. 
The result of your life depends upon 
your choosing the good way and walk- 
ing in it. 

And to you I say, my brother-men, 
choose Christ, for He is the Way. All 
the strength and sweetness of the best 
74 



m>t <©ocfo #to Wag 

possible human life are embodied in 
Him. All the truth that is needed to in- 
spire and guide man to noble action and 
fine character is revealed in Him. He 
is the one Master altogether worthy to 
be served and followed. Take His yoke 
upon you and learn of Him, and ye shall 
find rest unto your souls. 



H 157 82 



OCi If- 1903 



















v ' »£a&. ^ .* 












** °«* -■ 



iP""*. 



*>. 



-. ^* .*»•. \/ #»t W •" 



w * % Jtff!j%%2? '■» 4$ **^§S§feW** Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. -^ 

• M^MffiSfi * *0 v I ^^yf Svt • Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 

. o#*^»jfi Treatment Date: June 2006 ?V 



>WV o ifc v«%T** , PreservationTechnologies 






_ S, A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION \ a# 
V hi Thomson Park Drive 



!V *£k A* ^fV^^A*© ^ A> Cranberry Township, PA 16066 



(724)779-211: 



vw/ vwv v v*^> 















^.*astf. "^ 










7o° aP 



>♦ ... 



«K 



% \W /\ "-^K- * * -.flBV 







V ♦ 







.0 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

029 557 314 4 



